The Gene Scene Volume 1-6

For this edition of The Gene Scene I take this opportunity to bring you up to date on a number of items.

First with respect to the Steering Committee charged with developing a business plan and recommending a site for the “hub” of a Canadian centre for the conservation of livestock and poultry genetic resources, Dr. Steve Morgan Jones is on leave within Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and Dr. Gilles Saindon has replaced him as Co chair, along with myself, of this steering committee. The Innovation and Renewal Board of AAFC are reviewing the recommendations of the steering committee and the results of these deliberations will be available in March with respect to the business plan and the proposed site. Everyone at all levels is working hard to bring the recommendations of the steering committee to fruition as soon as possible.

I am very pleased to report that our joint effort with Rare Breeds Canada to develop overviews of the status for each of, the Chanteclar Chicken, the Bronze Turkey, the Tamworth pig and the Canadienne cow have been completed and will be available soon.

I also take this opportunity to say how pleased the Foundation has been to be able to work with the Canadian Adaptation and Rural Development Fund (CARD) over the last three years. In particular we are very appreciative of their financial support and we look forward to working with them again in the future

The NAGP in the United States as of November 30, 2003 collected through its headquarters at Fort Collins;

Committees continue to work on Swine, Beef, Dairy, Poultry, Aquatic Species, and Small Ruminants.

The ADSA Discover Conference-“Protecting and Managing Animal Genetic Resources for Future Generations: The Next Steps” is planned for Cheyenne Wyoming November 3rd to 5th 2004.

Millions of turkeys arrive at our dinner tables this week, courtesy of the nation's vast poultry-producing industry.
But the birds that make such bounty possible -- the flocks of ''research turkeys'' and other fowl studied at universities -- are not in such ample supply. These birds, less tasty than the table-top variety but bred for unique genes for color, deformities and disease resistance, are an endangered species, threatened with extinction by universities seeking to save money. Without them, researchers and farmers are likely to have far less important information about everything from illnesses to breeding. ''Once they're gone, they're gone,'' said Mary Delany, a poultry geneticist with the University of California-Davis who is working to save the birds. They are genetic treasures, she said, ''representing decades worth of research.''

The first-ever inventory of research birds reveals that only 18 collections of live turkeys remain at U.S. universities -- down from 41 in 1984, according to the Avian Genetic Resources Task Force. Chicken, quail and waterfowl collections also face a precarious future, write Delany and Janet Fulton of Hy-Line International, the world's largest producer of breeding poultry, in the journal Science. The article covers the task force's survey, which documented the elimination of over 238 poultry research stocks from 1984 to 1998 -- a loss of 40 percent of U.S. stocks and over 60 percent of the Canadian stocks. The eliminations included entire collections of birds, as well as individual stocks within collections. Lines that had no counterpart were dropped. And typically, there was little warning to the U.S. research community -- or even to the faculty who worked with the birds.

Some of the loss is driven by changing trends in science. Agriculture used to get more attention. But in this era of glitzy biotech wizardry, the care and feeding of noisy, hungry and messy birds has dropped as a priority for university administrators, say poultry geneticists. Funding is re-allocated to genomics, molecular biology and other high-tech fields. But these are no ordinary birds, say poultry geneticists. They carry rare genetic mutations that help scientists unravel the mysteries of growth, development and disease. ''Treasure your exceptions: That is the key to genetics,'' said Delany.

Uniformity, not variation, is the rule for the industry-grown poultry. But the creation of these large, tasty and healthy birds is dependent on understanding the genetics that govern these traits. And for that, you need research birds.

''Variation explains things like what goes wrong when you have cancer, why a heart is defective, why an embryo has limb deformities,'' said Delany. It can take a researcher a lifetime to find a variation in a bird then breed a genetic line of offspring that consistently carry the trait. The most immediate worry is for turkey stocks at Ohio State University, used for over 30 years by geneticist Karl Nestor. Using these birds, Nestor defined the genetics behind traits such as strong legs. But Nestor recently retired, and his flocks may be eliminated. ''If Ohio's collection goes, then we are going to be accelerating toward an agricultural genetics crisis,'' said Tom Savage, poultry geneticist at
Oregon State University.

At a recent auction near Corvallis, Ore., Savage was dismayed to lose his turkeys grown at Oregon State University. The turkeys, which represented a rainbow of rare color patterns, sold because of fiscal problems at the university and a sudden decline in the state's turkey industry. A collection of quail on the brink of elimination at the University of British Columbia has been moved two hours away, to a temporary home. The university once had the world's largest collection of mutations and unique lines of quail; since then, the 12 unique lines and 27 mutations have been reduced to six lines.

A fire at the Davis-based bird-care facility several decades ago killed a rare Japanese quail mutation. Five other quail mutations salvaged from that fire -- three, unique to UC-Davis -- were subsequently eliminated because of funding difficulties. It takes space to house birds -- and space is a premium on today's college campuses. It is also expensive to pay someone to care for them. But just because the birds are inconvenient and expensive does not mean they will not be critical to future research, say geneticists. The bird whose genome is now being mapped -- making chicken history -- is descended from two lines of birds preserved back in 1956, said Delany. ''Nobody would have predicted in 1956 that these birds had such value,'' she said.

Avian Genetic Resources Conserved Through Novel Government – University Agreement

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre (PARC) and the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Agricultural Sciences (UBC) are developing a long-term collaborative research agreement that will play a leading role in the conservation of avian genetic resources. This agreement would in effect merge the PARC poultry research program, which emphasizes animal welfare, with the UBC research program, which emphasizes avian genetic resource conservation and sustainable poultry production. This agreement will enable the formation of a novel and strong research group for avian genetic resource conservation.

Under the agreement, UBC will construct a new building at PARC in Agassiz B.C. to house the UBC Japanese quail and chicken genetic stocks while PARC will provide the resources required to maintain the stocks and the building. These stocks will be utilized in collaborative research projects and will be made available to other research groups.

While the researchers are delighted to have received funding for the new building and for long-term maintenance of the birds, they are still seeking funding for much of the operational equipment required before the birds can be moved into the building. Funding or in-kind donations are being sought for the following pieces of equipment:

Organizations and individuals living in Canada or in the United States may donate cash, securities or equipment and receive tax relief. If you are interested in helping establish this novel facility please contact Dr. Kim Cheng at Kimberly.cheng@ubc.ca or phone [604] 822-2480.

House Of Commons

Dr. Peter Adams, M.P. and Chair of the "Government Caucus on Post Secondary Education and Research" sent an "Open Letter" December 15th from the Caucus to the Prime Minister, the Hon. Paul Martin.

In the letter Dr. Adams states, "The federal investments in genetic research have been very substantial. We urge that animal and plant genetics, especially the former, be given renewed attention".

"NEW” Farm Animal Genetic Resources-BSAS Publication No.30

This new 350-page book published in 2003 has been written to create awareness of, and to discuss key issues in this field, such as policy, the genetic basis for conservation, new opportunities for rare breeds, molecular and reproductive techniques to support conservation and conservation in action.

Printed in the United Kingdom, this book is available from Iowa State Press 2121 S. State Avenue, Ames Iowa 30014-8300 or through their Website www.iowastatepress.com. Price is approximately $56.00 (U.S.funds)

The Foundation appreciates the support of both Corporate and Individual Members as it moves forward with the development of a national Animal and Poultry Genetic Resource Centre, the development of profiles of breeds that need to be conserved, and the general concern for genetic resources conservancy.

As well as the 31 Corporate members from commodity organizations, universities and industry organizations the Foundation appreciates the support of its Individual Members. Currently the Foundation has the support of members from all 10 provinces. These members include university, government, producers, agribusiness personnel and consumers interested in conservancy and the Foundation’s objectives. As well, the Foundation has members from the United States, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

In the United States, the National Animal Germplasm Program, Poultry Committee reports; American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) and NAGP have conducted a national survey of non-industrial chicken breeds. Survey results show that of the 70 breeds reported 20 are considered in ALBC’s Critical Condition (less than 500 breeding birds and less than 5 primary breeding flocks) with such small populations as to be threatened with extinction. To start addressing this issue NAGP has developed an agreement with Colorado State University to collect and cryopreserve roosters as well as transfer this type of technology to interested institutions or companies. NAGP worked with Cornell University to cryopreserve semen and blood from their S-10 population and submit it to the repository.

In the Beef industry, discussions have proceeded with the Beefmaster Breeders Universal concerning the initiation of a germplasm collection for that breed. The association is identifying families and bulls, which they would like to have as part of the germplasm collection. The American Hereford Association has allowed NAGP access to its pedigree files to determine the level of inbreeding for that breed. The analysis indicates that approximately 95% of the cattle registered between 1990 and 2001 were inbred. The average inbreeding level in 2001 was 9.8%; one animal had a 76% inbreeding level.

At the world level, FAO is conducting the third session of the Intergovernmental Technical Working Group on Animal Genetic Resources (ITWG-AnGR) from March 30th to April 1st 2004.

A report from Norway “Modern Breeding Programmes” by Prof. Odd Vangen summarizes the following;
Substantial genetic gains are achieved in the breeding programs due to the quantitative genetics theory, improvements in statistics, computer facilities, and technical improvements making it possible to more accurately measure important traits like production composition and quality.

He summarizes the typical animal breeding structures. Animal breeding is highly influenced by international trade with genetic material and some of the variation is threatened by this development. Some of the negative developments seen are as well caused by neglecting undesirable genetic correlations to fertility, health, etc when selecting intensively on simple production records. Low effective population sizes, increased inbreeding and spreading of undesirable single recessive genes due to too much use of the top ranked genetic material (sires) traits also contribute to this negative development. Some examples of different breeding strategies within cattle and poultry are given.

The future will show if the negative trends in animal breeding will increase or if awareness of genetic variation and sustainable breeding programs will be taken more into consideration than is done today.

Editor: Mike Nowosad Publisher: Jim Dalrymple	The Gene Scene Information letter of the Canadian Farm Animal Genetic Resources Foundation P.O. Box 3027, Brighton, Ontario, Canada KOK 1HO	Volume 1-7
Spring 2003/2004

Chairs Corner

RESOURCE INFORMATION